B F Goodrich Keychain Collection

This give-away program was very popular with the general public, even after the 1939 New York World's Fair was over, so B. F. Goodrich Company began advertising the keychain license plates in magazines, like LIFE Magazine, and again gave them away in 1940 at both the California and the New York World's Fairs,

(From Page 1, LIFE Magazine, August 28, 1939)

The price varied depending on where you ordered the keychain license plates from. Some locations offered FREE keychain license plate tags, while others charged from 10 cents to 25 cents for them.

Some customers wanted their name or lucky number on the keychain license plate tag, rather than their license plate number from their cars.

With the United States entry into World War II in December 1941, and the shortage of raw materials, including brass for shells, B. F. Goodrich discontinued the give-away program in 1942.

While nothing has been found to suggest that these keychain license plates were an early forerunner to the Ident-O-Tag or DAV Keychain license plate tag programs, it's possible that they could have been used in such a manner.

To order one of these brass keychain license plate tags, the customer had to fill out a form, with their name and address, on it, as well as what they wished on the keychain tag, so that B. F. Goodrich could send the keychain license plate tag to them once it was produced.

Since the form was sent on to B. F. Goodrich, in Akron, Ohio, to have the keychain tag produced, and the tag was then sent on to the customer, it's possible that B. F. Goodrich filed the forms away, just in case a set of keys were returned to them with the B. F. Goodrich keychain tag on it. This would allow them to return the keys to the owner, who I'm sure would be grateful, and would keep this in mind when in the market for tires for their cars.

Thanks to Dr. Ed Miles, New York, New York, ALPCA #2771 for the much of the above information.

1939	1940	1941	1942

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